With a history consisting of almost two centuries, Wusthof keeps providing cooks with finely crafted kitchen knives and shears, pocket knives, and other accessories. Headquartered in Solingen, Germany, Wusthof is still under the control of the original family and presently employs over 350 craftsmen, each of whom, you could surmise are dedicated to creating each Wusthof knife set as sharp as its reputation.
Product Lines
The Wusthof knives are constructed using two methods – forging for Wusthof’s high-end line and stamping for the more affordable line. Consequently, contingent on your income, you might become the happy owner of the renowned Wusthof knives but possibly at different levels of sharpness.
The forged knives come from the Classic, Ikon, Classic Ikon, Le Cordon Bleu, Culinar, Grand Prix, and Grand Prix II lines but the stamped knives come from the Gourmet, Emeril, and Silverpoint lines. You will see a solid difference between forged and stamped blades in each kitchen knife set, with knife connoisseurs selecting forged knives nearly every time to be used as their chef’s knives. Stamped knives are often only good for steak and paring knives.
Whatever Wusthof knives set you purchase, though, each of these knives are comprised of 15 percent chromium, 0.5 percent carbon, and a small amount of molybdenum. Together with the company logo – a trident in a circle against a red background – the knives are distinctive from thier competitors’ knives.
Advantages
At the risk of sounding like a spokesperson for Wusthof, their knives were judged repeatedly to be one of the best cutlery available. Evidence of this statement is Wusthof knives are the number one kitchen knife of celebrated chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and James Martin, and furthermore being routinely rated to be the top-rated knives by Consumer Reports and Cook’s Illustrated.
For home users, the easily controlled traditional handle is suited well to many hand sizes that, in turn, allows many guests or spouses to feel competent working with the knives in a Wusthof set. Naturally, Wusthof knife blades are particularly sharp and almost never rust, stain or dull. More than any other issues, world-class manufacturing processes and materials are the primary aspects of a quality knife.
Disadvantages
The main feature that could dissuade the non-professional from purchasing a Wusthof knife set would be Wusthof’s expensive price. Considering the cheapest set of low-end Gourmet paring knives is priced at $35, you will probably find different knife brands with more knives at similar prices. For the the more expensive collections, $300 is peanuts.
Also, Wusthof makes series that have thinner-than-usual handles including the Wusthof Classic. Of course, men are more affected with this problem due to their more substantial hands. Additionally, a few do not care for a stainless steel handle, and would rather use the polypropylene type.
By and large, Wusthof knife sets can offer more quality for the cost. It cuts very nicely and efficiently the way that all high-quality knives should, performs for generations as Wusthof has done, and seems very professional when placed on your countertop. With a knife set as good as this, you probably will wish to buy another set as a gift for a new chef.
